Grey Matter
by uptonmama
Summary: An excerpt of the missing months in New Moon. Angela steps up and proves her friendship and loyalty to Charlie and Bella even though neither is in any condition to appreciate what she is doing. One shot.


**AN:** I am having a bit of brain block on my other stories so I though I would do this little one shot that has been rattling around the uncharacteristically empty space I call my mind. Maybe it will help kick the creativity switch back into the on position.

No I am still not Stephenie Meyer and no I have no right to play with her characters as I do, but it is to fun to quit so oh well.

_**Grey matter**_

**Angela's POV**

My phone ringing startles me out of bed. I frantically throw clothing and books around my room digging for it. Stepping towards my dirty clothes pile I feel a vibrating under my foot signaling my missed call. Well at least I know where my phone is now. Removing my phone from yesterday's dirty jeans pocket I check to see who's call I missed. Bella. Bella has not called me in over two weeks, not since the Cullens left. I wonder what wrong, Bella has not said a word to anyone since they left. Why is she calling me now? A sense of urgency fills me as I hit the talk button to return her call.

"Hello, Angela is that you?" A mans voice answers.

"Uh, yah. Is Bella there? She just called me?" I ask, not recognizing the voice on the other end.

"Yah she is, but I am the one who called you. This is Charlie, Bella's dad. She needs help and I can't help her. Can you please come over?" he pleads desperately.

"Sure Chief Swan, let me get ready real quick and let my parents know where I am going. I should be over in about 20 minutes." I grab clean clothes and throw them on; I can shower when I get home. From Charlie's panicked voice I know whatever is going on over there must be bad so I try to hurry as much as possible.

Dashing down stairs I kiss my mom on the cheek."Mom, Chief Swan just called and asked if I could come help him with Bella. She is not doing good and I guess he thinks me being there might make it better. I told him I would be right over. Is that okay?"

"I guess so Angela, just give us a call if you are going to be there all day. I want to know where you are. If Ben calls the house should I have him call your cell?" Mom replies.

"No just tell him I'll call when I get home. I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing over there today.

Climbing in my car I roll down the windows to let the crisp breeze in easing my tension. My car approaches Bella's house Charlie sits waiting impatiently on the front porch. His hands cover his face as he slumps on the steps, his entire body is wracking with deep sobs. Oh God what has happened to her.

"Chief Swan" I call out climbing out of my car as quickly as I can. "What's happened?" As he looks up to me I see tears streaming down his reddened face.

"She just won't get up. She hasn't eaten since Friday morning and she hasn't moved from her bed since yesterday morning. I don't know what to do. I've tried everything." As he stands up he gives me an apologetic look. "I just thought maybe you could get her out of bed at least, and maybe she would eat something if you were here. I know you are a good friend to her."

"I'll try, but she hasn't spoken to me for over two weeks now. I don't know how much help I'll be." I follow Charlie into the living room and watch as he lowers himself into his favorite chair. Grabbing the remote control he stares at the buttons like he has never seen them before and leaves the tv off.

I head up the stairs slowly unsure of what I can actually do to help. Bella's bedroom door is closed so I knock quietly and wait for an answer. There is no sound from within so I gently push the door open just enough to peek inside. I can see Bella lying on her side under a pile of blankets and dirty clothes. Deciding she is not going to invite me in I open the door wider and step through. The stench of her room is almost enough to churn my stomach. God, if I can do nothing else for Charlie or Bella today I will at least clean her room.

"Bella." I call out my voice barely above a whisper. She does not reply, not so much as a twitch to acknowledge that she heard me. Walking around her bed I trip over a pile of discarded school books mixed with plates of rotting untouched food. Oh God this is disgusting, she must be worse than I thought. How can anyone live in a room like this. Wiping decomposing spaghetti off of my shoe with the sleeve of a dirty shirt I continue to her side.

"Bella!" I call out loudly this time while shoving her shoulders not so gently. Her eyes are twitching as if in deep sleep but her body is stiff as if in the middle of a seizure. Shaking her shoulder harder with still no response I feel true fear creep up my spine leaving goose-bumps in its wake. How can she not be responding to this, I am practically pulling her off the bed now I am shaking her so hard. Without thinking about my actions I pull my hand back slapping her with my full strength. Oh crap what I have just done. Her face is turning scarlet, a testament as to what I did. Burying my face in my hands I hear a slight moan. My eyes dart to Bella's face as her eyes part slightly gazing around the room unseeing. "Bella!"

"Uuuugh." Bella moans unemphatically as she rolls over to face the other way not even bothering to see who was speaking to her. I quickly grab her arm stopping her from completing her roll.

"Bella, you are getting up now!" I inform her, I will not be going home leaving her like this. Charlie may not be able to force her to shower but I can. I don't care if I have to get in the shower with her she needs to snap out of this. I can't believe the chief has not already taken her to the hospital the way she is acting. If I can not help her she is going to end up institutionalized.

Bella looks at me with glazed over unfocussed eyes, I don't even know if she knows who is speaking to her. God she really is just gone.

"Come on you need a shower." I grab her arm and drag her up off the bed toward the bathroom. Starting the water I let the steam fill the room while waiting for Bella to undress and get in. She is still on some far away planet totally unaware of what is happening right around her. "Get undressed and take a shower Bella, I am going to get you some clean clothes." I demand as I turn to walk out of the bathroom shutting the door behind me.

What has happened to my friend. Surely Edward leaving can not be the only thing causing this. Of course it is not just Edward, she had become so close to but the whole family, well maybe not the blonde girl. She must be in so much pain right now, I will not abandon her though. No matter how long it takes to get her to come around I will be here for her. I can't believe they would just leave like that and not even write or call, how can they call themselves her friend. Friends just don't do that. Walking into her room I begin the search for clean clothes, easier said than done. UGH this is just despicable. Finding the last clean shirt shoved in her bottom drawer and a set of underclothes from the top drawer I start the search for pants. There are none to be found.

"Chief Swan," I holler down the stairs.

"Yah." He replies without moving from his chair in front of the blank tv.

"Do you have a pair of pajama bottoms or sweatpants Bella can borrow, all of hers are dirty?" I ask.

"uh, Yah, bottom drawer." He answers in a disinterested monotone. Man he is really not much better that Bella. How could something so simple as a family moving away wreak so much havoc on this family. I wonder if Bella's mom knows what is going on. Surely she should be here helping out.

I walk to the Chief's room feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of scavenging through his drawers to find Bella some clothes but what else can I do. Quickly finding a pair of sweat pants I return to the bathroom.

Bella is still standing in exactly the same position I left her in staring into thin air. A thick cloud of water vapor swirls in the draft caused by me shutting the door. Shaking my head in utter depression over the state of my friend I quickly set about undressing her and walk her to the shower, washing her hair as my mother did for me as a child. Finishing bathing Bella I hand her a towel hoping she will realize what needs to be done. No such luck. Exhaling a long breath I begin to dry and dress her. Brushing her hair gently before leading her downstairs to the kitchen.

After seating her in a chair at the eclectic dining set I prepare her a simple but varied breakfast hoping she will eat some. "Bella, I'm going to go start some laundry. You eat while I'm gone I'll be back in just a minute."

I grab a couple of trash bags from the kitchen cupboard and head back up the stairs to her room. Scraping all the rotting food into trash bags I seal them locking in the pungent fumes. Tossing the bag into the hallway I stack the repulsive dishes in one stack and begin gathering her dirty clothes into the other trash bag, checking her pant's pockets before throwing them into the bag. A simple small note sticks out of one pocket, the tiny piece of paper has been handled so frequently that it is now as soft as tissue paper. Two words in beautiful script are scrawled across it, _Be Safe. _This must be important to her so I set it on top of her computer keyboard. Maybe when she wakes up from this comatose state she will appreciate it. Dragging the bulging bag of filthy laundry to the stairs I tie the tabs and push it down the stairs following with the stack of crusty dishes and bag of trash. At least her room will smell a bit better now.

After loading the washer with her clothes I return to find that she has actually eaten at least half of the food I left for her and is now staring once again at nothing. Taking her hand I lead her to the living room and sit her on the couch across from the chief. I cross the room to turn on the tv for my own piece of mind, it is driving me to distraction to see them stare at a blank screen. I finish the laundry and wash the dishes. Taking time to prepare a few sandwiches for the chief and Bella for later in the day before giving the rest of the house a quick clean.

"Hey Chief, I've gotta get home now, I'll be back tomorrow for a bit okay?" I will come back every day for as long as it takes to help these dear friends come back.


End file.
